A Pair Of Pretty Fox Ears
by Jody14
Summary: Naruto was born with a pair of fox ears, and he doesn't like it. Everyone is just making fun of them, so he tries to get rid of them for good. But there still might be someone, who likes the exact same thing everyone hates. PeinNaru friendship, NaruHina


_**A Pair of Pretty Fox Ears**_

Naruto sobbed. He covered his red fox ear with his hand and pushed them closer to his head so no one could see them.

He hated them.

_Hated, hated, hated._

Why did he have to be born with those?

It wasn't even his choice. Yet still...

"_You damn freak!"_

"_What are those red things sticking out of your head anyway? Get rid of 'em, will you?"_

"_It's not Halloween, you know?"_

"_Get back where you belong! You know, to the forest with other weird beasts."_

He sobbed again and kept running towards the forest. All of those words hurt.

They hurt like hell.

Whoever said that words can't hurt was an idiot.

But nothing hurt more than words of a girl he admired, girl named Sakura.

"_There's just no way I'd go out with you. No way. Those fox ears of yours make you look like a clown. I don't want to be seen with someone like you."_

He finally stopped.

He was far from school by now, deep in the forest. Probably he was lost too. He didn't mind.

He walked across the narrow paths and soon found himself near the small lake. He took his shoes and socks off, sat down and let his feet sink into the water. He stared at his reflection.

They truly were ugly.

A pair of ugly fox ears, bright orange, sticking out of his blonde hair.

He despised them so much.

If there only was a way to get rid of them.

Why couldn't he just be like everyone else?

He pulled his school bag closer and pulled out his scissors. Right now he could make them of some use.

He gently pulled the top of his left fox ear, snapped the scissors open and closed his eyes tight. He just had to cut.

All of a sudden a hand landed on his right wrist and stopped him on spot. The second one wrapped tight around his waist.

Naruto's heart started bumping faster. He couldn't even turn around to see who it was.

His eyes glanced to the water. The reflection revealed another boy, about five years older inches behind him, holding him still.

"You've got fox ears."

Even though his voice was cold, that was everything he said. No laughter, no insults, just that.

"Yeah, for now."

"Don't do this, okay?"

The boy gently twisted his right wrist and made Naruto let go of the scissors.

"Why not?"

Naruto grimaced.

"I hate them. Anyone who sees them either laughs or tries to insult me, they're useless! Just something to laugh at."

He found a chance to break free and turned around. He stared at the other boy for a while. There was just silence. Neither of them broke it. The boy slowly scanned Naruto with his grey eyes. Naruto took time and counted all of the piercings on his face. Awkward silence lasted for a while and then...

"I like your fox ears."

Naruto blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"They're sweet. I think they look nice with your blue eyes."

Naruto stared at him for a while.

"You're kidding me, right? You're joking."

"Do I look like someone who makes jokes to intetionaly hurt others?"

Naruto turned his eyes away from the older boy.

"No."

"Here's your answer."

"It's still hard to believe you really like them. After all this time everyone hated them, and yet you still like them."

"It's a weird thing, huh? How you think everyone hates a patricular thing about you, yet there's still someone out there that might find it appealing."

More silence.

"What's your name?"

"Naruto."

"Naruto, huh? That's a nice name. Will you promise me something, Naruto?"

Naruto lifted his head.

"What?"

"I want you to promise me, that you'll never try to get rid of your fox ears again."

Naruto sighed.

"I can't promise you that. I really can't."

"Don't be an idiot."

The boy lifted his hand to Naruto's head and his fingers gently slipped over the edge of his fox ears.

"You've got a pair of such pretty soft fox ears, Naruto. Trying to get rid of them like you tried a while ago would be a really really stupid thing to do. Promise, you won't do this again."

"I... I promise."

He smiled and moved his hand away.

"Good boy."

He turned around. He was about to leave.

"Hey, hey!"

Naruto's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Yes?"

"You didn't tell me your name yet."

The boy grinned.

"You won't need to know my name."

"I want to know."

The boy merely shrugged and made a first step.

"If you leave like this, I'll cut them off!"

"You wouldn't do that. You promised."

"I want to know your name in exchange!"

"I don't owe you anything in exchange. Someday you'll see what I've really given you today. It'll show all of the sudden, you even might not see it. But you'll only get it if you keep your fox ears. Comparing to that gift, my name isn't important."

"What gift?"

"You'll see someday. Not yet. Much later."

The boy left and Naruto stood there staring at the spot he had seen him for the last time for a while.

* * *

A year and a half passed by. Naruto didn't see that boy since then. He still wasn't sure what his gift was, in exchange for keeping those fox ears.

"N... Naruto-kun..."

He turned around to see a shy girl from his class standing behind him and fidgeting her fingers. Hinata. She was the only one that called him by his name, not freak or monster, just his real name.

"Hinata, what's up?"

"I... I wanted to ask... If you wanted to... um... go to the forest with me. I wanted to... pick some blueberries..."

Naruto laughed.

"Sure, why not?"

The girl blushed and followed him towards the forest. On the way their hands brushed against one another and they both blushed. Soon they reached a small glade.

"Na... Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"I... have something to tell you..."

Hinata was just a few inches away fromhis face. She gave him a shy kiss on a cheek, turned around to hide her blush and siletly whispered.

"You've got a pair of such nice soft fox ears, Naruto-kun..."

Naruto stared at her for a while. He's heard those words before. Sometime, long ago.

He thought he heard a rustle in a nearby bush. He turned around and for just a short second he thought he had seen a pair of grey eyes watching him.

"Thanks, Hinata. I'm glad you think so."

"It's not only your fox ears I like, Naruto-kun... It's... you I like."

Hinata turned back to him and this time pressed a kiss on his lips. Naruto gently wrapped his arms around her waist and returned her kiss.

* * *

"Come on, it's about time you showed up. I know you're here."

Naruto took time at night and had a walk to the glade, where him and Hinata became a pair that day.

"Well? I've finally seen you after a year and a half, you could at least show up."

The same boy that stopped Naruto in his intention of cutting his fox ears off stepped from behind the nearby tree.

"I think you owe me some explanations."

"How many do you want?"

"Just two. What's you name and how did you just disappear like that?"

"Not wondering about that gift, I see."

"No. I get that part. The real gift was someone who loves me for who I am. I'm glad you stopped me that day, but I still want to know the rest."

The boy smiled.

"My name? My real name is Nagato. Prefer to be called Pein though. I've never disappeared, I just didn't show myself. I've been watching you for a while since then. You didn't even notice."

"But why? Why me? And why didn't you stay with me back then?"

Nagato shrugged.

"I just wanted to see you stand on your own two feet, I really don't want you to think that I've set that whole thing up. You've found Hinata on your own. You've grown since the time we've first met."

"Pein?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you... stay with me this time? Please?"

"I'm sorry. I can't. I'm leaving this place tomorrow."

"But why? You just walk away like that and then you don't come back for a year or so. Why do you keep doing that?"

"You think you're the only one who doesn't like what he sees when he looks into the mirror? There's lots of others that are being teased because of how they look. I've been there myself, and I know how it hurts. So I'd like to ease that pain. Like I managed to do with you."

Naruto pouted and his eyes drifted to the ground.

"I really wanted you to stay this time... I wanted you to stay with me and be my friend."

"We can still be friends. Distance doesn't make friendship any different."

"Will I ever... see you again?"

"You will. Someday. I promise."

Naruto sadly smiled, hugged Pein and cuddled close to him. Pein could still hear him silently sobbing.

"Don't cry, Naruto with a pair of beautiful fox ears. I'll be back someday. When the pain will be gone. Promise, that you won't forget about me, okay?"

"I promise... I promise I won't forget ..."

Naruto sobbed again and smiled just a moment later when he felt Pein's fingers gently slip over the edge of his fox ears again just like a year and a half ago.

"You've got a pair of beautiful fox ears, Naruto. It was a stupid thing, trying to get rid of them like that, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. I know."

_**A.N.:**_ I haven't written anything for a while, but I'm still waiting for reviews. If this gets reviewed I'll make another story, I have some stored in my notebooks. PeinNaru friendship forever. Okay, now a short explanation... I didn't really come up with idea, more like one scene for drawing, but I do rememeber that lots of people I know keep saying how ugly they are. And I don't think they're ugly at all. So I've written this story for all the people who "don't like what they see when they look into the mirror". At the same time I was wondering how Naruto Neko would look like. Probably he wouldn't be Neko at all, his ears wouldn't be cat ears, but fox ears. I wanted to make him look different than the rest, and he doesn't like the fact of being different. Different isn't neccesarily bad. Forgive the grammar and spelling mistakes please, if you think I could fix some stuff not me and I'll fix, I promise.

Jody14-chan


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